Now even just surfing the web can be an MMORPG in a sense.

“Play” is really just an imposition of a different set of restraints than otherwise apply. Childhood make-believe games impose restraints on the type of persona you take on, whether a cop, a robber, an Indian or a cowboy. Modern role-playing utilizes similar concepts, though generally with a wider set of imposed restraints. But even in sports, or in games played with cards or boards and game pieces, there can be no true concept of play without the imposition of a set of restraints that differ from those of common experience. It’s the definition of those restraints, the “rules of the game”, that permit those engaging in play to be entertained, providing the ruleset is sufficiently organized to provide a game-situation whose restraints mirror moral concepts that are mutually agreed upon, primarily ensuring some sense of “fair” play.

Not all play needs to adhere to a sense of fair play, though most games do ultimately depend upon it. In those scenarios where some concept of balanced opportunity is sacrificed in favour of one party over another, it is generally only done within a wider ruleset that has been agreed upon in advance by all involved parties. So ultimately even in situations where general moral standards are not adhered to, it is the mutual agreement of the involved parties to establish restraints on those standards that enable the situation of play to operate with success.